I'll Protect You
by HikariTenshiYamiTenshi
Summary: Warning - Abuse, Rape. References to Yaoi. YamixTea to YamixYugi. Yami is repeatedly abused, and when it puts him in hospital, the truth finally comes out and Yugi is there to help him. Domestic abuse doesn't just affect women and children.


HTYT - I didn't really intend to bash Tea. But this just came into my head mid-afternoon and I kind of think of it as a dedication to any man who has been abused by his girlfriend or wife.  
Yugi - Yep, because women and children aren't always the only ones being abused.  
Yami - ...Just one thing. Why do you insist on torturing me?  
HTYT - Oh shut up, or I wont post your promised lemon.  
Yami - .....Carry on. HTYT owns nothing but the plot idea. NOW GIVE ME MY LEMON, PLEASE!  
HTYT - In my next fic, I promise.

---

A scream of pain. Repeated thuds of a fist on his stomach.

Yami doubled over, and landed on the kitchen floor. Tea loomed over him. He knew she was sleeping with Devlin, even though Duke himself didn't know that she was in a relationship already. He didn't blame the CEO, he was saddened by the fact that she would probably eventually do the same to him. Since when had she gotten so violent, he asked himself, since when had she had the compulsion to attack him so?

He coughed a little blood, and she left him alone to tend to himself. Yugi would ask about the bruising, and why he whimpered when he gave him a hug. Yami went to stand, and found that he couldn't, hearing a loud crack as he when to move his leg, and screamed out in pain. He looked hazily down, and saw that his ankle was broken, the bone having pierced out of his skin. This was the last time. The last time she would attack him like this. Fumbling in his pocket he found his cellphone, and he flicked his thumb down, and punched in Yugi's number. After a few rings, Yugi's happy soothing voice sang out of the speaker and all he could say before he blacked out was "Yugi...help..."

He awoke in hospital, his leg bound up. From the bandages on his stomach, he guessed he had been into surgery, and found Yugi looking down at him with a sad smile. The mouth opened and the sweetest voice trailed off his lips. "Yami...why didn't you tell me what she was doing to you?" Yami watched as Yugi moved one of the silken hands to his, and carefully squeezed it, avoiding dislodging the IV going into the back of his hand, "How long has this been happening?"

The taller gave a quiet reply. "It began about a month into our relationship."

"Why didn't you break it off?"

"I was scared that she would become worse, vengeful, and come after you, because you mean so much to me..." he gazed into the gentle eyes of his Light, his Yugi. When she had attacked him the second time, his feelings had begun to wane and settle into someone else, someone who he had shared much more with, despite having been with Tea. He'd fallen for the one who had helped him regain his memory, the one who had helped him come back, and brought him and Tea together. The emotions that had once been directed at the brunette had spiraled into the direction of Yugi, and coiled around him, to the point where whenever he had been having sex with Tea, he had been imagining that it was Yugi's body he had been thrusting into, the one he was making scream in ecstasy, begging him to go faster and further, the one who he pulled out of and feel huddle against his chest, not after sex, but after making love. When he had become aroused while Tea had been out of the house, he would lie on his and Tea's bed or slumped on the sofa, then sensually fantasize, masturbating heavily on countless occasions to the thought of his Light kissing him, caressing his body, writhing underneath him or bucking above him, the walls of his body clenching and jolting against his erection and those flawless lips emitting rapturous cries, screaming to the world his euphoria. And every time he came, projecting his seed over himself, he would cry out Yugi's name, screaming out until his throat ran dry, the name that made his heart race and his stomach flutter.

He focused on the hand that stroked his, the delicate fingers rub in circles in his palm, and savoured the soft flesh that incited a smile and a hum of appreciation to leave his sore throat. He watched as Yugi smiled slightly at the sound, then felt his heart quicken as Yugi leaned forward. His heart-rate monitor began peaking and the beeping increased. His Light didn't stop advancing, and he wasn't gonna be trying to stop him. He wanted him. He needed him.

Yugi's advancement only stopped when the rose-petal lips reached his, caressing them, encouraging his to open to deepen the kiss. He complied with a intake of breath through his nose, and allowed Yugi's warm wet tongue tickle his. His good hand, the one that didn't have an IV needle in it, slipped down to touch his Light's hip, rubbing his thumb into the area near his crotch so that he would twitch and moan into the kiss.

A throat clearing brought them from their kissing session and they looked to see a doctor standing there. The blonde walked forward and for the first time, they saw who it was. Mai came in and adjusted the painkillers that were being dripped into his body, and smiled at them knowingly. Yami smiled slightly and returned the squeeze of his hand from Yugi with a stronger one, delighted when the simple gesture caused Yugi to blush.

"Mai, can I talk to you?" his Light asked their friend.

She smirked a little at him in reply. "Sure honey."

Yami watched as Yugi smiled shyly at him and walked after the blonde. When they disappeared from the room, he looked at himself. His eyes traveled over what of his body was visible, and he winced.

He finally saw it; the layer upon layer of bruises. The scars from when she had thrown him against objects and they had broken the skin. The fresh cuts and grazes from being beaten. And for the first time since the first beating, he cried, both in humiliation and fear. He had allowed Tea to attack him, to at one point force sex upon him, to tear his trust to shreds. He had let her hurt him again and again, and had never spoken out to the people that would understand and console him.

It was at this second he cried harder in a startling realization. He had become the person who Yugi had been before he had made friends. He had become the opposite of what he had once been. He had driven Yugi's enemies and attackers to insanity, and now, he was the one who had been almost pushed to the brink of madness. Yami became so tearful, he didn't notice Yugi walk into the room, and only realized company had returned from his talk when the shadow of an arm appeared in his blurred vision and he shrank back, cringing at the pain that shot through his stomach and chest from where two of his shattered ribs had been removed, expecting another blow to add to the count. Yami was thrown for a loop when he was carefully drawn into a warm, loving embrace and the warm smell of mandarin cologne covered the harsh chemicals. The familiar scent soothed him and a sensation of feather-soft skin wiped his tears away, meaning his vision was cleared.

Amethyst-indigo eyes met his cherry-plum tinted orbs and those perfectly curved lips pressed softly against his again, the eye contact never breaking. And then while still on his lips, they moved, tickling the nerves in them with hot breaths. "I'll help you get through this, like you did for me...Yami...you always protected me, and now it's your turn. I'll protect you. I'll protect you Yami, I promise...I love you so much it hurts to see you like this...let me make it better...I'll love you forever..."

The words were repeated over and over, his chanting like a holy mantra, and tears that built up were caught before they fell when those delicious lips brushed his eyelids, taking them away, never to return. Those tender words coming from his love's lips were more powerful than any orgasm he had experienced in his life. Yami let himself be cuddled against the smaller man's body, allowed himself to be vulnerable to the one person who would never in eternity hurt him, and felt his Light open the mind link. A flood of encouraging warmth, soothing fluid emotions that clouded his pain. It was mimicking the effects of the diamorphine that was in his body, removing the mental agony while the physical drug took away the literal pain. That single river of love down the link allowed him to fall into a serene sleep, sprinkled with tranquil dreams of Yugi and him together, just lying together in the grass of back garden of the Game Shop, sharing kisses, murmured words of affection and the warmth of the other. It was the most amazing dream he had ever had, because now he knew that he would be able to carry that dream out when he was well again.

When he once again awoke, the weight of a body on his arm caused him to look down, where a sleeping Yugi was slumped over in his chair, one hand still holding his, and gazed at him as his back rose and fell with each deep breath. He adored the way that a few of his silky strands of hair fluttered when his breath moved them, and the cute little nuzzling movements that he subconsciously did to the hand he was holding, mumbling against the fingers. He couldn't be described as an angel. He was Yami's God in a human body.

Someone stopped at the door, and he directed his eyes to look up, which once there filled with fear. Tea stood looking at him, almost sorrowfully. "Why are you here?" She visibly flinched at the frosty whisper that left his mouth and shivered physically at the sight of those eyes, filled with pain and hatred. "I wanted to see you."

"What for?"

"To apologize-"

"What for? The cutting, the breaking my ribs, the verbal abuse...the rape? Pick, it's a multiple choice question." his voice shook, and Tea flinched again. "And for a bonus, why not explain why?" he added humourlessly.

The honest truth was that she had no excuse. She hadn't had a real reason; he never raised a hand to her so it couldn't have been self-defence. He never shouted at her other than to plead with her to stop. He had never forced himself upon her, he had always been so sweet but passionate, effortlessly bringing her multiple orgasms, despite the pains from the beatings. She stood in the doorway, her mouth open, but no words fell from her lips. There were none to say. The strong Pharaoh that she was in love with was gone and now under her gaze was a hollow shell, a broken marionette which she had controlled and only one person could fix.

"No excuses are there?" she swung around at the voice and saw Mai, Joey, Serenity, Bakura, Ryou, and Seto standing there, Seto with one arm around Joey, Bakura holding Ryou's hand. "What possessed you to beat him to the brink of death, Tea? Was it his devotion to you, his gentle demeanor, the love he showered you with every day, even though you would tear him to bits every night when you returned home?" Bakura whispered.

Yami watched as his once-nemesis mentally backed his abusive girlfriend into a corner. Yugi had woken up and was once again softly stroking his hand, before both his arms held him close again, lips touching his cheek in a chaste kiss, stilling his turbulent fear. He looked at Yugi, and found an inner strength, and gave a true smile when their lips skimmed over the other's and then pressed in to one another, the melodic hum tumbling from them again in untainted appreciation with faultless unification. He was in a fragile state, and his enchanting Light was holding him out of the line of fire, protecting him from further damage.

His awareness that Tea was watching them now didn't even faze him. He was too enraptured in the lip-lock that he had no desire to look at her, nor even think of the consequences of the kiss. But when they did break away, and their eyes met once more, he finally, after the months of abuse, had the strength to turn away. And Tea regarded him for a moment, droplets of tears gathering in her azure orbs, then walked out of the room, out of Domino, and out of their lives, and never turned back.

Finally, Yami looked back, and saw she was gone. The weight was lifted from his shoulders, and he sank back onto the pillows of his hospital bed, and despite a twinge of pain, pulled Yugi with him so they lay side by side, and one of his hands tangled in to the smaller's hair, and kissed the pale forehead, and this time when he cried, it was tears of joy that cascaded down his face, in the knowledge that he had his friends, rivals and soulmate by his side. One big, fucked up, but very happy family, made up of different nationalities, pasts and personalities. And they wouldn't have it any other way.

---

Yugi - Love you Yami.  
Yami - (says nothing but snuggles Yugi)  
HTYT - AW...they're so cute...I want to glomp them...  
Yami+Yugi - NO!!!!!  
HTYT - (Jumps and glomps both) LOVE YOU!  
Yugi+Yami - (knocked out on floor, twitching)  
HTYT - ...Whoops...whoopty shit...


End file.
